A ''qanbūs'' () is a short-necked

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

that originated in

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

and spread throughout the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. Sachs considered that it derived its name from the Turkic

komuz The komuz or qomuz ( , , ) is an ancient fretless string instrument used in Central Asian music, related to certain other Turkic string instruments, the Mongolian tovshuur, and the lute. The instrument can be found in Turkic ethnic groups, ...

, but it is more comparable to the oud. The instrument was related to or a descendant of the barbat, a (possibly) skin-topped lute from

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. The qanbūs has 6 or 7

nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

strings that are plucked with a

plectrum A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In harpsic ...

to generate sound. Unlike many other lute-family instruments, the ''gambus'' has no

frets A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the Neck (music), neck or Fingerboard, fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the Neck ( ...

. Its popularity declined in Yemen during the early 20th century reign of Imam Yahya; by the beginning of the 21st century, the oud had replaced the qanbūs as the instrument of choice for Middle-Eastern lutenists. Yemen migration saw the instrument spread to different parts of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. In

Muslim Southeast Asia Muslim Southeast Asia refers to the areas of Southeast Asia that have significant populations of Muslims. It includes: * Most parts of Indonesia including most of Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, West Nusa Tenggara, Maluku Islands and Sulawesi (Java and ...

(especially

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

), called the gambus, it sparked a whole musical genre of its own. Nowadays it is played in the traditional dance of

Zapin ''Zapin'' ( Jawi: زافين) is one of the most popular dance and musical forms in traditional Malay performing arts. Dance movements are choreographed to melodies, which are performed using musical instruments such as the gambus (short-necke ...

and other genres, such as the Malay and an ensemble known as ("gambus group"). In the

Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

it is known as ''gabusi'', and in

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

as ''gabbus''.

In Yemen and Oman

The qanbus is a traditional instrument from Yemen carved from a single block of wood. It is also played in Oman, where it is called gabbus. The lower half of the top is covered in skin, and the upper half has a wooden soundboard, often with small soundholes. It has a floating bridge, a sickle-shaped pegbox and usually 7 nylon or gut strings in 4 courses, with the lowest course single. There also exist 3-course versions, with 6 or 5 strings, though these are less common. The Yemeni lute has 7 strings in four courses, tuned low note to high C DD GG CC. The first C string is a single string; strings D G and C are all pairs. Image:Qanbuz.JPG, A ''qanbūs'' lute in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, with 6 strings organized into 3 pairs.

In East Africa

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, a related instrument was called the Kibangala. It used to be built and strung in the same way as the Qanbus. In the

islands, a related instrument called the Gambusi is played, which is built in the same way but often has a flat-shaped pegbox, rather than the sickle-shape, and sometimes has a differently shaped soundbox. Both usually have 4 courses of strings, which can be double or single. Several structural nuances exist between the original design (

Anjouan Anjouan () is an autonomous volcanic island in the Comoro Islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean, part of the Comoros, Union of the Comoros. It is known in Comorian languages, Shikomori as Ndzuani, Ndzuwani or Nzwani, and, until the early twentie ...

, Mwali) and the later avatars in

Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...

. The corrupted pronunciations Gaboussi, Gabusi, or Gaboussa are also found in

, and obviously preaches for a joined etymology with the Kabosy chordophone in N-W Madagascar.

In Southeast Asia

The word ''gambus'' () covers a variety of instruments, some with skin soundboards, some with wooden soundboards, some that are shaped like the

i ''quanbūs'', and some that are shaped like the Arabian '' oud''. The instruments may have 3, 4 or 5 courses of strings, plus a single base string. To avoid confusion, various descriptors are used in the names by academic researchers. In the

Malay world The Malay world or Malay realm (Indonesian language, Indonesian/Malay language, Malay: or ) is a concept or an expression that has been used by different authors and groups over time to denote several different notions, derived from varied in ...

there are two types of : the and the . "" can be used to refer simply to either type of instrument, however The instruments are different than the '' Hasapi'' boat lutes. The instruments were "transmitted" from the

Muslim world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

to the

at an undermined time. Links to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

begin as early as the 5th-6th centuries C.E., with trading networks and occupation in the 15th century. Experts have tentatively given dates for the instruments' arrival between the 9th and 15th centuries C.E. In looking for origins, musicologists have also noted some similarities with the Chinese ''

pipa The pipa, pípá, or p'i-p'a () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets rangi ...

''. The two types of likely arrived at different times; the likely arriving as the ''quanbus'' or '' barbat'' and developing over centuries. The likely developed in the 19th century after the arrival of the ''oud''. Some modern luthiers in Indonesia and other countries have begun to make hybrid instruments, combining the or ''dambus'' (?) with other instruments, such as the ud (

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

), the Hawaiian ukulele (

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Administratively, it forms the largest island in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The area is 14,250 km2. Including Komodo and Rinca islands ...

) or the bluegrass mandoline (

Lombok Lombok, is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is rou ...

) The pronunciation dambus is met in

Bangka Belitung Islands The Bangka Belitung Islands (; Jawi: ) is a province of Indonesia. Situated off the southeastern coast of Sumatra, the province comprises two main land masses — the islands of Bangka and Belitung — and numerous smaller islands. Bangka B ...

and also in a limited area from Sukamara Regency and

Pangkalan Bun Pangkalan Bun is the capital of West Kotawaringin Regency in Central Kalimantan Province, on Borneo, Indonesia. It is an agglomeration of eight towns (''kelurahan''), all of which are part of South Arut District (''kecamatan Arut Selatan''), wi ...

(Central Kalimantan). Elsewhere in Indonesia, some other well known corruptions are Gambusu and Gambusi, respectively observed in

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

and

Gorontalo Gorontalo ( Gorontaloan: ''Hulontalo'') is a province of Indonesia on the island of Sulawesi. Located on the Minahasa Peninsula, Gorontalo was formerly part of the province of North Sulawesi until its inauguration as a separate province on 5 De ...

..In Lombok, the mandoline-shaped gambus - actually a vague, fretless copy of Gibson's A-type bluegrass mandoline - is also locally named Manolin which used to accompany Kemidi Rudat plays or Kecimol entertainment.

Gambus Melayu or gambus Hijaz

The –also known as ("

Hijaz Hejaz is a historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al-Bahah. It is thus known as the "Western Province ...

i gambus"), , , ("palm

spathe In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

gambus"), ("

perahu The ProA is the second-tier league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 16 teams. Officially the ProA is part of the '' 2. Basketball Bundesliga'', which consists of the two hierarchical leagues ''ProA'' and ''ProB'' ...

gambus"), and – retains a shape similar to the original qanbūs, but equipped with a skin soundboard. The sounds of this gambus accommodate to native Malay music more than its more conservative Hadhramaut counterpart. Tuning: :

Riau Islands The Riau Islands () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia consisting of a group of islands located in the western part of the country. It was established in 2002 after being separated from the neighboring Riau Province. The capit ...

: G₃ D₄D₄ G₄G₄ C₅C₅ for wire strings or A₃ D₄D₄ G₄G₄ C₅C₅ for nylon strings :

Eastern Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi.2), including adjacent i ...

: G AA B DD AA EE (double courses tuned in unison) :elsewhere in

and

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

: A₃ D₄D₄ G₄G₄ C₅C₅ :

: E₃E₃ A₃A₃ D₄D₄ or DD GG CC

Gambus Hadhramaut

The ''gambus Hadhramaut'' is a gambus that resembles an oud. The name

Hadhramaut Hadhramaut ( ; ) is a geographic region in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula which includes the Yemeni governorates of Hadhramaut, Shabwah and Mahrah, Dhofar in southwestern Oman, and Sharurah in the Najran Province of Saudi A ...

refers to Eastern Yemen, and this form of the instrument may have arrived in

(and a wider extent to another Malay world countries) with immigrants from there in the 19th century, joining Muslim communities already established centuries earlier. The bowl is made of light woods, the neck of a hardwood. It has a wooden soundboard. It is a fretless instrument with 11 strings in 6 courses, tuned low note to high: :(Notes in

scientific pitch notation Scientific pitch notation (SPN), also known as American standard pitch notation (ASPN) and international pitch notation (IPN), is a method of specifying musical Pitch (music), pitch by combining a musical Note (music), note name (with accidental ( ...

) :Arab tuning for oud: C₂ F₂F₂ A₂A₂ D₃D₃ G₃G₃ C₄C₄ :Alternate for oud C EE AA DD GG CC :Circle of fifths: B₂ E₃E₃ A₃A₃ D₄D₄ G₄G₄ C₅C₅ :Circle of fifths: B EE AA DD GG BB :

Ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

: A, DD, GG, CC, FF, BbBb

Gambus Seludang

The Gambus Seludang was another name for the gambus Hijaz with a specific reference to its monoxyle (like boat constructed from a single piece of timber) structure. The name came with the revival in

Riau Riau (Jawi script, Jawi: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the central eastern coast of the island of Sumatra, and extends from the eastern slopes of the Barisan Mountains to the Malacca Strait, including s ...

and

. In

, this is similar in shape and size to the gambus Hijaz, but features a wooden resonator. Image:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Langhalsluit met vier snaren TMnr H-1690.jpg, 1871, an ancient originated from

. File:Yazid, gambus player in group Samrah Al-Mazikaty, painted by Yusoff Abdul Latiff.jpg, 2014. ''Gambus Hadhramaut''. File:Musician playing gambus Hadhramaut at the Zubir Abdullah's Cinta, Cipta & Citarasa workshop concert in Malaysia- 8 Aug 2010.jpg, 2010, Malaysia. Musician playing ''gambus Hadhramaut''. File:چند قنبوس جنوب شرق آسیایی.jpg, Myanmar. (top row from left): ''Gambus'' (or Indonesian: ''saludang bunta''), ''gambus Melayu'', ''gambus Hadhramaut'' and ''gambus Hadhramaut'' (bottom). File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Tokkelluit met zes snaren TMnr 1330-379.jpg, 1939 in

. ''Penting''. "''Panting''" is another word for the gambus Melayu in

South Kalimantan South Kalimantan () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is the second most populous province on the island of Kalimantan, the Indonesian territory of the island of Borneo after West Kalimantan. The provincial capital was Banjar ...

. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Langhalsluit met zeven snaren TMnr 1043-1.jpg, 1936 in

Halmahera Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coa ...

. ''Gambus'' originated from

as the

Tropenmuseum The Wereldmuseum Amsterdam (previously known as Tropenmuseum () between 1950 and 2023) is an ethnographic museum with its headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was originally founded in Haarlem, Netherlands in 1864 under the name ''Koloniaal ...

collection,

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Similar instruments

Gittern The gittern was a relatively small gut-strung, round-backed instrument that first appeared in literature and pictorial representation during the 13th century in Western Europe (Iberian Peninsula, Italy, France, England). It is usually depicted p ...

– a medieval European instrument built in the same way, but with a completely wooden soundboard.

Sources

References

* Poche, Christian. "Qanbūs".
Grove Music Online
' (subscription required). ed. L. Macy. Retrieved on August 15, 2007.

* Charles Capwell,
Contemporary Manifestations of Yemeni-Derived Song and Dance in Indonesia
', Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 27, (1995), pp. 76–89 reg * Kinzer, Joe. "The Agency of a Lute: Post-Field Reflections on the Materials of Music." Blog post. Ethnomusicology Review: Notes from the Field. UCLA,2016.

External links

*
The Gambus Project